Squad Battles: Eagles Strike Version 4.02 Release and WDS Winter Sale, End is Nigh

Hello Everyone,

We are very pleased to make available the updated Squad Battles: Eagles Strike.

Before diving into the updated title, we would like to mention that there is less than 48 hours left before the Wargame Design Studio Winter Sale concludes at 10pm United States Eastern Standard Time.

As a reminder, all games that have been out longer than 12 months have been reduced 25% (to $29.95). Only four titles are not included in that:

Philippines '44
Great Northern War
Orel '43
Thirty Years War

In addition to the discount per title, you can also take advantage of a further 20% discount if you make a purchase of $199.00 or more at one time. This discount is Automatic and will be applied as soon as you cross the $199 threshold - and this discount will be taken off the contents of the entire order, no restrictions for any titles. The only exception is Gift Cards do not have their price discounted.

We also want to remind you that you can set your preferences to use your Local Currency, if you are outside the US. Login to your Store Account, and then at the bottom of the page select the desired currency.

If there is a title (or three) that you are missing from a series or just want to try something new, the sale would be the perfect time.

With the release of the three upgraded Eastern Front Squad Battles titles, as well as the Grenada Demo we prioritised Eagles Strike next.

Like the prior 4.01 releases, there will not be a patch to move from version 4.00 to 4.02, but rather a need to do a fresh install of the latest version. As mentioned in a previous blog post here, the following instructions are applicable.

We have determined that with the range of changes, including the upgrading of graphics technology, that it is too problematic to provide a patch to upgrade from either the Wargame Design Studio (WDS) 4.00 version or the earlier John Tiller Software (JTS) versions.

Every owner who has a key will find the new Eagles Strike 4.02 installer in their store account. You can access your store account from the link here. If you have issues accessing your store account, please reach out to the support desk via email using this email address: HelpDesk@wargameds.com. The new builds will require you to uninstall your existing build before installing the new one. Please backup any save games or other content you may want to keep before proceeding.

Moving everyone onto the same version now, will make it much easier for us to provide updates in the future and ensure all have the latest features.

We are terming Squad Battles Version 4.01/4.02, a release, not a patch, as these are new games. We have put an equivalent amount of effort into improving these titles as we would a new game. This covers not just the graphical and user interface improvements but also the gameplay. Importantly, every existing owner that has a key either from WDS or JTS will get the applicable games for free, as mentioned above via updated builds in their store account. If you have any questions, please contact the Help Desk via the aforementioned email account.

There are a range of updates and new features included with this latest build. You can read the changelog on the link here. Eagles Strike is a version 4.02 release as compared to version 4.01 for the other titles. We plan to see whether there are any issues with the 4.02 version, and if not, will update the other 4.01 titles subsequently.

For Eagles Strike, all the changes introduced in the Eastern Front titles, are included, such as the new 2D zoom level, new graphics, gameplay and documentation. For version 4.02, a range of bug fixes and enhancements were included, adding additional gameplay fidelity as well as a range of user interface and documentation enhancements. Hopefully you will all be pleased with what you see.

For those who are not aware, there are 120 scenarios included with the game as well as 3 campaigns with an additional 15 scenarios. The title follows the US Forces as they battle the Axis across Western Europe.

With the popularity of both Panzer Battles Normandy as well as the Western Front Panzer Campaigns titles (Normandy ’44, Market-Garden ’44 and Bulge ’44), we expect that the newly enhanced, version 4.02 of Eagles Strike will be of interest to you all.

Here are links to the revised or new documentation if you want to browse it before purchase. Just click on the image to access. All are included with the new build under the Manuals directory.

The User manual has had another extensive rewrite.

The Summary Info guide replaces the old SQB manual that has now been included in the User manual.

A new Scenario Editor manual is now available and can be accessed via the image below to review and download.

The new Map Making manual is included and can be accessed via the image below to review and download.

There are also two versions of the Visual Order of Battle, one for ‘figures’ and one for ‘heads’. These will be included in game but can also be downloaded by clicking on the below images.

Here is an example of an OOB included in game in both formats.

There is also a Vehicles & Weapons Encyclopaedia that provides statistics on all the equipment modelled in the game.

If you are interested in buying this title you can go direct to the product page here: Eagles Strike

Finally, here are some screenshots from the updated Eagles Strike title:

Thank you again for all your support during the sale and ongoing encouragement to release these updates.